


facial... mask?

by ariatl



Series: my only reason [2]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Face Masks, Fluff, ive been dying to figure out how jaal would feel about face masks lbr, side liam kosta/male ryder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-10-29 22:43:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10863609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ariatl/pseuds/ariatl





	1. Chapter 1

Kylie has a rather strange... What she has deemed, once he inquired, beauty routine. Every night, just before she goes to sleep, she makes her way to the bathroom, carrying a small caddy filled to the brim with various facial products. Which, as she's told him before, she knows is frivolous, but she could honestly care less. Usually, he doesn't follow after her. 

But a few weeks ago, he decided to ask her if he could watch her do it once. She agreed and he was completely and utterly enthralled as she washed her face with many different things, one right after the other, and one with a strange, spinning brush. Then, she applied a clear serum-like fluid, followed by a cream to finish it off. It fascinated him; It was much like Angaran routines, but just... Alien. Different.

Nothing prepared him, however, when later into their established relationship, as he is curled up on their bed, watching Elcor Hamlet on his omnitool as he waited for her to come to bed, she comes into their room, her face a deep blue. He glanced up from his omnitool and his jaw dropped.

Jaal _almost_ screamed. Almost, being the key word. It came out as more of a squeak, really, _honestly_ , as he took in her face, his jaw nearly on the floor in shock. "Darling one, Kylie, starlight of my life," he scrambled off of the bed, all but rushing to pull her into his arms, "You need not change the color of your skin to match mine, truly! I love our relationship for just as it is, I-"

Kylie burst out laughing, hard, eyes and nose crinkling in the cutest way. Her mask slightly cracked and his eyes almost bulged out of his head. "Jaal," She managed between laughs, trying to push him away from her still wet face, no match for how strong and big he was compared to her. "It's a facial mask."

The angara slowly let go of her, his head tilting in confusion. "Facial... Mask?" He slowly tried the words, drawing them out and staring at her incredulously. "What is a..." Words left him for a moment as his brows furrowed, his mouth hanging open as he searched for them. "Facial mask?"

"It's a thing humans put on their face for different effects." She glanced down at her hands, wiping off a bit of mask residue on her shorts. "This one calms the skin, it's got Dead Sea mud in it."

"Dead... Dead Sea mud?" Jaal paused, looking even more perplexed by the second. A low hum sounded in his chest as he mused over the words for a moment. He grinned, taking her hands. "Might I try it on?"

"Um," Kylie scoffed in disbelief, "if you really wanted to. I mean, you don't have to try it just for me, you know." She said, gently squeezing his hands.

He nearly beamed, the happiest smile on his face. "Yes, I know. I would like to, my love."

She very nearly lit up, bouncing on her heels as excitement danced up her body. "Really?" All big smiles, utterly happy as she turned on her heel and dragged him along. "Okay, then. Come on!" 

* * *

   
"And... There!" Kylie pulled away from Jaal, hands colored the same deep blue as her face and now his, turning away to allow him to admire himself in the mirror as she washed her hands off.

Jaal lifted a hand to touch his face, only for Kylie to swat it away with her elbow before it could touch. "No touching until it's dry. You'll make a mess."

He turned his head in all directions, a smile slowly crawling onto his face. "Fascinating." He, instead, touched his reflection, humming. "It feels... Wonderful. Relaxing, even."

"Yeah?" She smiled, wrapping her arms around his thick waist from behind, her hands so very far from touching from how big he is, compared to her.

His hands came to rest over hers, him silent in thought. "It reminds me of these special creams angara use sometimes, only for special occasions. Though, I will admit, they are not nearly as colorful as these."

Kylie grinned. "Guess humans just know how to make everything fun, then."

Jaal laughed, loud and boisterous and warm, and turned to pull her into a hug. "Yes, yes they do."

They stood there for a moment, simply staring at eachother with silly, warm smiles, until the doors to the bathroom rushed open and in came Gil, who immediately stopped in his tracks.

"Shit, you two are going to make my teeth melt." He grouched, rubbing at his jaw. "Actually," He paused, eyes wide for effect, "I think I feel a cavity coming on."

Kylie sighed, loudly, reaching for absolutely something, _anything,_  to throw at him before she caught a wadded up ball of paper towels and chucked it at him. "Can it, Gil. Before I give you a cavity."

But then, Gil finally noticed their faces, nearly dried into an ocean blue, and the laughter that hit him was so loud, Kylie almost felt both her eardrums burst. "Shit!" He doubled over, hands on his knees, nearly screeching. "Knew you'd turn into an angara one day! Peebee owes me twenty creds."

"It's a face mask!" She nearly screamed out of exasperation.

"Sure it is."

"I hate you. Both of you." She grumbled as Jaal pulled her away and dragged her past Gil, a big, happy smile on his deep blue face.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Lala, I -" Liam's words came to a screeching halt as he took a step inside of her quarters, his jaw nearly falling to the floor and his brown eyes shooting wide open. His hand lamely hung in the air as he finally took in the sight of the two, his brows slowly furrowing in utter confusion.  
  
Kylie glanced up from her spot on her bed between Jaal's legs, her face slathered in a deep silver facial mask. "Yeah, Lola?" Jaal sat behind her, his wide legs wrapped loosely around her body as his thick fingers working deftly in an attempt to braid her curly hair, his bright face also covered in the same deep silver. Little grumbles in heavily accented Shelesh escaped him as he dropped a thread of her coiled hair and he threw his hands up in defeat, her hair falling from his hands. She giggled as she reached back and unwound the braids, leaning back against his chest and attempting to smile up at him, her mask wrinkling in the cutest way. That earned the warmest grin from him as he leaned forward, his mask wrinkling as well as he kissed the tip of her nose.  
  
"Am I..." He chuckled in disbelief, his hand awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck as he stared at the ground. "Am I interrupting something?" Liam's dark brows shot up as he spared another glance up at them, the most irritated look on her face. He bit back a laugh. "Are y'all sick?" He asked, a shit-eating grin slowly dancing across his face as he continued his trek to her bed. "Like, you seem a little... I dunno, a little alloy." Her dark brows wanted to furrow as she took in the horrible attempt at a pun, only for her to force her face to relax and a disbelieving, long, exasperated scoff to escape her. "You're so shitty at puns, Lola." She relaxed even further against Jaal, her hands desperately grabbing at the air in disbelief. "Like, that wasn't even a pun! Wow."  
  
"Not everyone's as talented at puns as you are, Lala." Liam plopped down beside them, lazily stretching out like a cat as he rolled onto his side, glaring up at them. She glanced down at him and he pouted in the cutest way, his arms crossing over his chest as he huffed. "Y'know," he managed through a sudden yawn, "I feel super left out right now. Like, you're all in the silver party while I've got nothin' going for me here." His hands rubbed at his face. "My skin's suffering, too! What about me?"  
  
Jaal laughed, the noise loud and happy and booming as his arms squeezed around the girl lounging against him. She scoffed at Liam, rolling her eyes. "Darling one," he managed as he finally calmed himself down, her hand reaching up to grasp his jaw as he happily stared down at her, careful not to mess up his mask. "I suppose we should show Liam how wonderful these..." He hesitated at the word, slowly dragging it out, " _facial_ masks are." He leaned in towards her, his voice low and mischevious, "his skin does need quite a bit of help, you know."  
  
That earned a sharp laugh from Kylie, her lips pressing together in a desperate attempt to keep herself together. Liam pushed against the bed and shot straight up, his dark eyebrows shooting up. "For real?" He grinned, all happy and bright. "You know, my skin could use a little TLC, honestly." His brows waggled at them, the most amused look on the girl's face as the angaran melted into a puddle of laughter behind her. "This whole new galaxy air has been messing it up horribly." Jaal leaned in towards Liam. "You know," a brow quirked up as he pursed his lips, his voice low and deep. "Perhaps it isn't the 'new galaxy air'. I've noticed your skin always tends to look a little dull, Liam."  
  
A harsh gasp escaped him as his hand pressed against his own chest, right over his heart and he fell back down to the bed. "Wow!" He scoffed in disbelief and mock offense, rolling over and burying his face into the white sheets, his words muffled. "That was so rude!" His leg darted out and kicked against hers, her leg uncurling and reaching out to kick his back. "Teach your big guy some manners, Lala!"  
  
"He's a _perfect_ gentleman to me," she tried to cheekily grin as Jaal nearly purred behind her, the motion hindered by the mask as she pushed at the brunette's hips with her foot. A gasped ripped from him as his body rolled right off of the bed, landing on the floor with a loud _thud_. "Lola, you want a face mask or not?"  
  
"Oh, hell yeah!" He popped up from the floor, his chocolate eyes peeking up at her from the edge of her bed. She laughed. "Count me in, Lala."

* * *

  
"There," she let out a sigh as her hands fell from his now-silver face, darting over to the bathroom's sink to wash the remaining residue off of her hands. Liam slowly admired himself in the mirror, his hands ghosting just an inch from his face as he took in the glint. He pursed his lips at himself and nodded his head in appreciation. "Nice!" He whistled and slowly grinned, all toothy and happy. "Now I feel like a part of the family."  
  
Jaal very nearly beamed beside him, elbowing his side with the cockiest grin tugging at his lips. "You've always been a part of the family, Liam." He waggled his brow bone, earning the most indignant look from the brunette. "Now you just actually _look_ like you belong with the rest of us." Liam swatted his big elbow away, shooting him a mean little glare as his hands grabbed at his hips. "Rude!  _So_ rude."  
  
The doors hissed open behind them and Suvi's soft little gasp echoed through the small bathroom. "Oh!" Her smile was so big and happy at the sight, her hands clasping in front of her as she took in their faces. "Is this a face mask party? I _love_ face mask parties." She was very nearly bouncing in her spot, excitement bubbling through her. "I want to be a part of the face mask party!"  
  
Kylie turned around as she dried her hands off with a paper towel, pursing her lips at the redhead and narrowing her eyes. "Literally just as I wash my hands off. Okay, get your ass over here, Sue." The redhead happily giggled, crossing the distance and standing beside the sink. She eagerly bounced in her spot, her hands clasped behind her back as the girl pinned pieces of her hair away from her face and started to smooth the mask over her skin.  
  
Gil peered in from around the doorway at all of the noise, his brows slowly furrowing at the sight. " _Again_? You're all wearing face masks _again_?" He looked over to Liam and a gasp escaped him, his eyes darting over to Suvi and _another_ indignant gasp escaping him. His hand covered his mouth in mock shock. "And you recruited two new victims! What, you tryin' to turn all of us into angara? This some weird conspiracy theory against Evfra?"  
  
"Oh," Kylie scoffed, "I know you're just jealous, boy." The raven waggled her brows at Gil from the mirror, her hands smoothing the concoction over Suvi's smooth face. "You know you wanna join us, Gil." He shook his head violently in protest. "You know you wanna be one with the face mask clan."  
  
"Join us," Liam slowly started chanting, elbowing Jaal in the side. He raised his hands, waggling his fingers in the air as Jaal joined in with his chanting. They took a slow, cautious step towards the door, Gil's eyes shooting wide open at the dangerous look dancing in their eyes, their silver faces glinting under the harsh bathroom lights. "Join us!"  
  
"Goddamn!" He jumped back, his hand over his heart. They took another step towards him and he cursed under his breath, nearly tripping. "What is this, the Shining?" A brief second of fear hit him as he leaned away from them, hesitation biting at him as they took another step at him. "Fine!" He nearly screamed, biting his bottom lip as they finally stopped taunting him, rolling his eyes indignantly. " _Fine_. I'll play along. For now." Kylie very nearly bounced in her spot from excitement, motioning him over. "About time! Jesus, get in line, boy."  
  
Gil carefully made his way over to the two and stood behind Suvi, his arms indignantly folding over his chest as he shot Kylie the meanest little look. "If this burns my beautiful face, you owe me for my future plastic surgeries." She desperately tried to not smile at his pointed look, very well aware of the fact that her face mask was beyond dry at this point and if she slightly moved even a muscle it'd probably crack. "Of course, Gil. Wouldn't dream of ruining your perfect face."  
  
"I heard there's a party goin' on in here?" James bit back a cheeky grin as he stood in the door way, Kylie's eyes slowly rolling into the back of her head at her brother's voice. Her face mask supplies were definitely going to diminish to nothing after this. Liam gasped in surprise at the sight of the man, joy dancing through his body. "Y'know I needa be apart of this crazy party, Kay." He cockily grinned as he made his way over to Liam, his arm snaking around the brunette's waist.  
  
"I would kiss you, babe, but I don't think you want face mask on you." Liam waggled his dark brows at his boyfriend and James laughed, pulling the man into a hug as he rolled his eyes. "Are you serious? You're not serious."  James pouted as he pulled away, his brows furrowing in the cutest way. "I might die without kisses from you, Lili." Liam chuckled breathlessly, his fingers tapping at the man's lower back, his arms loosely wrapped around his waist. "Oh, you'll live for fifteen minutes, JJ. Promise." His hands pushed against his hips as a breathless, airy laugh left him, forcing his boyfriend to take a step towards the line forming at the sink. "Get in line, cutie."

* * *

  
Around thirty minutes later, nearly everyone on the crew had finally gathered at their usual spot in Kylie's quarters for their nightly vids together, most of them curled up on the couch or on the floor. "Did you bring popcorn?" Kylie tapped Vetra's forearm with her foot from her lounging position on Jaal, the turian glancing over at her from her spot on the couch's armrest. "Yeah," Vetra nodded, waggling her mandibles as she handed her over the bag, "I did. Brought some graxen too, for me. You know."  
  
"Sorry for being late!" The doors hissed open as the final person to arrive came in, Peebee cautiously glancing around for her spot at their backs as she made her way around the couch. "I mean, it's hard being me, you know? Important stuff to do, takes up all my time." She cockily grinned as she plopped down on the floor in front of the couch and spared a glance over her shoulder, her eyes shooting wide open as she blanched at the sight, taking a double take and freezing. "Is...?" Her brows furrowed, shock on her face as she turned around to fully face everyone. "What... What the fuck?"  
  
Kylie pursed her lips, reaching up to scratch at an itch on her silver face. "What's wrong, Peanut Butter?" She desperately bit back a grin, her tongue darting out to lick her lips as Vetra burst into full-body laughter, curling over on the armrest. Liam and James curled into each other, their laughter muffled into each other's shoulders as Jaal's deep laugh overpowered everyone's. She lost her battle, her body melting against the angara as she burst into laughter, her hand darting up to press over her mouth.  
  
"That's what you get for bein' late, kid." Drack added in from his spot beside Kylie, raising his beer at the asari as his nostrils slightly flared, his own silver mask ever-so-slightly wrinkling from the motion. "You aren't allowed to get in on this party." Lexi scoffed from her spot on his lap, her legs curled under her as she brought her glass of wine to her lips, careful not to touch her own mask.  
  
Cora snorted from her spot on the floor, her omnitool up and her reflection dancing in it as she itched at a certain spot on her face, the silver crumbling as she itched it and she cursed under her breath. "Oh, yes. Ryder's already used up all of this mask." Suvi and Kallo bopped each other's shoulders, the two melting into a little puddle of giggles against each other as their fingers poked each other's cheeks, the digits pulling away with some of the mask.  
  
Peebee threw her arms up in exasperation, her eyes darting from each of their faces to land on Kylie's. "What the fuck, Kale?! I feel so left out right now! I need somethin'!" James groaned loudly, tugging on Liam's sleeve as he pointed at the television screen. "We needa get this show on the road, Peanut! Either sit down and be quiet or sit down and keep pouting 'cause I wanna watch this movie already." Liam groaned in protest, his body relaxing against the couch.  
  
"Darling one," Jaal started from under Kylie, his words slightly muffled into her thick, curly hair, "you know how stubborn she is." His hands slightly massaged her shoulders and she let out a long, deep sigh. "I know. Fuck, just as I get super comfortable in my boyfriend's arms." Her words were grumbled under her breath as Jaal helped her stand up, her brows furrowing in irritation. "Come on, Kale!" The asari grabbed Kylie's arm as she stood and Kylie sighed. "I'll find something."

* * *

  
The two returned minutes later, arms linked as they made their way through the doors. Peebee was absolutely beaming, the happiest look on her now-pink face as they made their way around the couch filled with people and to their respective spots. "I've got the cutest face now," Peebee happily quipped as she plopped down beside Cora, waggling her brows at the blond. Her finger pointed at her face, a smirk curling on her lips. " _I'm_ the only pink one here."  
  
"Peanut Butter," Kylie started as Jaal's arms wrapped around her waist and she relaxed back into his arms with a soft sigh, her hands resting over his. "Yours is the only not peel off mask. All of ours peel off." Peebee shot her a wary, confused look and Kylie rolled her eyes. "As in, you have to actually get up to wash yours off."  
  
Jaal mumbled into her shoulder as they shifted around, trying to find that comfortable spot they had managed to hit just before Peebee had pulled the girl away from him. "I know!" The asari grinned back at her, falling to her back and folding her hands under her head. "I'm special! What's better than that?" The raven rolled her eyes, reaching out to tap her head with her foot. "You doofus, yours is gonna dry completely down. Like, wrinkle-mania and kinda painful. Ours come off in a few minutes and all we gotta do is peel them."  
  
Peebee scoffed loudly, swatting her foot away. "Whatever! I'm _still_ the cutest. What's better than a pink asari?" Laughter bubbled through the room as Liam brought up his omnitool, tapping into it. "Let's get this show on the road, y'all, before our faces fall off."


End file.
